HMS Prince of Wales sails to defend UK waters

The warship HMS Prince of Wales has left its Hampshire naval base in preparation for a deployment in the Arctic to "protect UK waters", the Royal Navy said.

The £3bn aircraft carrier and its crew of more than 900 sailed from Portsmouth on Friday, carrying helicopters and drones.

It will deploy to the High North and North Atlantic later this year and take part in operations under Nato's Arctic Sentry mission to defend the region.

It comes after the UK and allies tracked a Russian attack submarine and two spy submarines loitering near critical undersea infrastructure in the north last month.

HMS Prince of Wales had been in Portsmouth since the end of November, when it completed an eight-month mission, codenamed Operation Highmast, to the western Indo-Pacific region.

The Royal Navy said the ship would undergo training in UK waters before it embarks ammunition in Scotland ready for operations.

"The High North continues to be a critical area of interest to the Royal Navy with regular deployments to the Arctic Circle and surrounding areas – working alongside allies and partners," the navy said in a statement.

"It comes as the Royal Navy and the wider UK armed forces continue to be ready to protect UK waters and wider interests from a variety of potential threats."

Earlier in the month, Defence Secretary John Healey said the Russian activity in UK waters was closely monitored and warned Russia that any attempt to damage infrastructure would have "serious consequences".

He added that while many eyes were trained on the Middle East crisis the UK, in partnership with Norway and other allies, responded to "increased Russian activity" in the Atlantic north of the UK.